Figure 1.--This tin-type has a bucolic setting. Like most tin-types, it is not dated. We would guess it was taken in the late-1870s or possibly early-80s. Notice the striped stockings. The girl wears a dress with a narrow skirt. The boy wears a cut-away jacket with a vest matching his suit.

We note boys wearing vests with and without suit jackets in the mid-19th century. Three-piece suits were common in the 19th century. Normally vests in the mid-19th century contrasted with the vest. At the time it was also not common for jackets and trousers to match. We see an unidentified young teenager wearing a bold plaid vest in the 1840s. An exception was the frock coat suit. This was not a boys' style. We also see teenagers wearing somber frock coats with black vests matcing their coats. A good example is Clarence E. Summer, we believe in the 1840s, perhapos the 50s. We also see boys wearing vests without jackets. Later in the century it was more common for the vest to match the suit, especially after suits became matching jackets and trousers. An exmple is Frank Mortimer Hene in the 1870s. We do not note boys wearing their vests without jackets. We know less about vests than the other suit components for the obvious reason that they were normally covered by the boys' coat and it became very common by the late 19th century to buton up jackets so the vests were not vissible, although you sometimes can tell there was a vest. Many suits in the late 19th century were three-piece suits meaning that a vest was included.

The 1800s

The primary suit for boys in the 1800s was the skeleton suit which was not worn with vests. Oldr boys might wear more adult suits which were worn with vests. Both were dressy outfits. We are less sure what boys might wear as every day clothing in the 1800s. Paintings are our primary source for clothing styles, but normally are portraits of people dressed un their best clothing.

The 1830s

Through the 1830s our assessment is limited by the absence of a photigraphic record. The first Daguerrotype appeared in France (1839), but rapidly spread to America.

The 1840s

We note boys wearing vests with and without suit jackets in the mid-19th century. Suits were not as common in the 1840s as they were later in the century. This may reflect the still developing American economy. A suit jacket was an expensive clothing item. The more common appearance of suit jackers after mid-century may be more than a fashion change and reflect great affluence. One of our best sources on clothing trends is the photograpic record which becomes availanle in the 1840s. This was was mostly Daguerreotypes. The problem with Dags is it is not easy to differentiate between 1840s and 1850s Dags. We think we can identify some, but welcome reader comments. Three-piece suits were common in the 19th century. Normally vests in the mid-19th century contrasted with the vest, especially in the 1840s. At the time it was also actually not common for jackets and trousers to match. And oftren the vests not only often did not match, but were done in bold patterns and bright colors. We see an unidentified young teenager wearing a bold plaid vest in the 1840s. An exception was the frock coat suit which was not a boys' style. We also see teenagers wearing somber frock coats with black vests matcing their coats. A good example is Clarence E. Summer, we believe in the 1840s, perhaps the early-50s. We also see boys wearing vests without jackets.

The 1850s

We continue to see vests in the 1850s as an importnt suit garment. We are still assessing prevalnce and colors. One of the problems we have in assessing the 1850s is that virtually none of the Dags are dated and could dates to the 1840s, 50s, and early-60s. We can spot the 60s Dags because we have the CDVs to determine styules. Differentiting between the 40s and 0s is much more difficult. Are major tool here is the ambros that appeared about 1855. Most Ambros were taken in the 1850s. Quite a nunber were taken in the early-60s, but they often can also be spotted because the huge number of CDVs establish the 60s styles. We know that often florid or bright colored vests were popular in the 1840s. But only when we found Ambros showing the loud vests that did not match the suits. were we sure that this was a popular style. We can not yet determine how prevalent these louds vests were. We think they were less common than the 40s, primarily because we do not see them in the 60s. We begin to see vests that matched the suits in the 1850s. we are still attempting to determine the prevalence. As well as wearing suits wiyhout vests or the vest wihout the suit jacket.

The 1860s

Vests changed markedly in the 1860s. We no longer see the loud, colotful vessts tht were popular in the 40s abd 50s. We see boys wearing suits with and without vests. Many boys wore suits without vests in the 1860s, but we see quite a few vests as well. The vests were mostly matching vests. The contrasting vests seen in the 1850s declined sharply in popularity. From the beginning of the decade, it became common for the vest to match the suit. This suggests that the change began in the late-1850s. This occurred at the same time thst suits with matching jackets and trousers appeared. Thus the matching jacket and vest with the pants is a hallmark of the 1860s. We are not sure which was more common. The photographic record shows that both options were very common. We note vests being worn with different types of jackets. This somewhat affected the style of vest. Cutaway jackets were usually worn with plsin bests. Lapel jackets were often wirn with lapel vests. We do not see boys wearing just the vests. The only images we have found to date show boys wearing vests with jackets. We have not yet established any age conventions. Many vests had small lapels, rather like minature sleeveless suit jackets.

The 1870s

We continue to see boys commonly wearing sduits with vests. We see vests with all kinds of jackets. And we see vests done in different ways. Msnu vests were done as collar buttining garments. The unidentified boy here is a good example (figure 1). This was of course at a time in wehich the necktie was not yet the dominant neckwear. We also note vests with "v" fronts like suits which showed off the short and neclkwear. An exmple is Frank Mortimer Hene in the 1870s. We do not note boys wearing their vests without jackets. We know less about vests than the other suit components for the obvious reason that they were normally covered by the boys' coat.

The 1880s

Vested suits continued to be very common in the 1880s. Vests became less common for younger boys in the 1880s, largely because Fauntleroy blouses became so popular and mothers did not want them covered up. They wanted all the fancy work on display. That was after all the purpose of the Fauntleroy Craze in the first plce. For somewhat older boys, vests continued to be very common. A good example was Harry B. Dexter. We also do note vests being worn with kilt suits and regular sack suits, increasingly worn with knee pants. Note that the vests now all continued t matched the suits.

The 1890s

Vested suits were still common at the nd of the century. It became very common by the late-19th century to buton up jackets so the vests were oftn not vissible in the avilble, although you sometimes can tell there was a vest. In addition to Fauntleroy suits, collar-buttoning suits were also still common. Vests were not worn with both of these suits. With other suits, vests wsere still very common. Wed see them with many other suit styles, in cluding sinfle bd double-breased jacketsand the popular Norfolk jacket. Many suits in the late 19th century were three-piece suits meaning that a vest was included. We see this very commonly in the photographic record. We suspect that boys did not commomly vwear rge vesrs wth the suits during the warm summer weather, but of course they might have dressed up for a studio pprtrait. Wht we di not see very commonly is the boys just wseruing the vest without the suit jacket. We do nnot see it in the photogrohic reord, but tht could be becuse mothers wnted boys to er the full suit and not just the vest to the studio for a portrait. The vests s best we can tell begn tking on tghe mnodern look without collars and lapels.

Created: 7:59 AM 1/11/2010
Last updated: 6:14 AM 10/15/2015